LOP GALLERY

Snowy 2008, by Queen Sonda.

An original, site-specific, weather-dependent installation whose transient and temporary nature reflects the "melting" quality of personal identity when juxtaposed with the harsh realities and changing landscapes of modern geography.

Admission: Fo' free.

*Click here for a more complete discussion of the artist's influences.

Simple Things

I don't know what's up, but lately I've been really appreciating the simple things in life that are fo' free (and cheeep).

Like yesterday I went to a matinee at my little neighborhood theatre, the Los Feliz 3. (You can do that when you're a freelancer.) I haven't done it in ages, and it was only $4.50. Sheet, even with the popcorn you can still get outta there for less than the price of a regular ticket at the Arclight. And it was so great to go to a movie during the day.

And, when I got out, it was pouring rain and my car was blocks away. For the first time in LA, I got caught in a rainstorm. Hair and feet soaked. It felt great.

It's gonna rain a lot more this week. So get thee to a matinee, and skip the umbrella.

The Best Thing In The World Fo' Free

Now that The Great Sickness of Aught Eight is over, there's one thing that I've been meaning to include on The Dirt Alert for ages. And it was even more precious while I was an invalid.

The library.

Dude, they let you have books fo' free.

That's really all you need to know. I don't even need to hearken back to ten-year-old Coco (imagine a colt with a perm) tottering out of the library under a precariously balanced stack of 22 books. I can't believe they let me take that many. I gulped them down whole.

And now it's all online and automated, so all you have to do is look up any book in the catalog, tell 'em what branch you wanna pick it up at, and they email you when it's there. And sharing books is ecocologically sound. Check it out. Word. (End bad library puns.)

Guest Dirt: From Tulita Campaign Headquarters

This just in, from Tulita Campaign Headquarters:

"Steve's been giving it up and he's been giving it up fo' free. He's been busting his booty to get out the vote for the man we want as our next president.

He began by resurrecting every dead and unused computer in our house and hooked our local Obama headquarters up with a much-needed internet hub. He then reached out to our neighbors, co-workers and friends and managed to get more donations. All in all, the Obama branch went from having 2 computers to a dozen.

As an added benefit, my man was able to utilize all of the old keyboards, mice, monitors, cables, etc. that we had lying around our office. He even put a computer that he found on the sidewalk of San Francisco to work. After clearing off the porn and questionable poetry, it was good to go.

So, maybe your Dirt Alert readers want to do something for their favorite candidate? If so, suggest they visit their nearest headquarters and offer themselves up. I, personally, have been a poll watcher, driver, and canvasser. Not only did I get to experience this beautiful, crazy, fucked up system we call democracy, but I got to visit parts of Los Angeles I never knew existed (La Tuna Canyon, anyone?) and mingle with the denizens and talk politics.

Finally, if your readers have any unused computers, laptops, monitors, mice, or keyboards that they'd like to donate to Steve, he'll put them to use at the Obama headquarters. After the primaries, the computers will be donated to the Valley Grassroots for Democracy".

Not A Museum

I love walking around the city and seeing random graffiti. Jesse sent me this. Real pole, fake bird. Fo' free.

Sick Of It All

It didn't cost me a thing to get sick. Yep, it was fo' free. It's hard to have the best life when you're trapped in your house going stir crazy and you have to miss Tue's big-ass house party and you've read every book that you own and you can't stand one more minute of TV. So I hearken back to last week, when I was not sick, but Sick Of It All.

Bad week. Bad times. Bad mood. (Why do you think I haven't been posting?) Luckily, H-Love and Alex The Great knew exactly what to do. They came to the rescue with cocktails on a rainy night in a tin-roofed restaurant and then wine and cheese and potato chips at a cozy little outpost over in beautiful South Pas.

I don't know about you, but a sexy bistro, your best girls buying you a glass of something, and a good old-fashioned sum-it-up break-it-down conversation never fail to cure the blahs. (See: January - March.) Thank you, ladies. I almost forgot that I had the best life.

Bootie Bootie Bootie Bootie Rockin' Everywhere

As we all know, Coco Hearts Bootie. I first experienced the power of Bootie at Burning Man, on what's known as The Night Coco Became The Party. So when they started up their monthly night here in LA again, we had to go down and check it out.

It was not fo' free, but it was only 5 bux before 10:30, and it was ON as soon as we got there. We danced so hard that we sweated through our jeans, and the rockin' was punctuated only by bouts of waiting too long at the bar for our Bud Lights. The whole crowd was loving the Bootie, and you've never seen so many smiles on so many hipster faces. Rock. It. Out.

Happiest08

Nyles and Maisie got married on New Year's Eve at City Hall. Which is practically fo' free.

And what did you do?